Forced migration

Definition

The movement of people against their will. The term describes the transatlantic transport of enslaved Africans more accurately than neutral words such as migration, because it makes clear that the movement was imposed. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, as described by the National Endowment for the Humanities, records about 12.5 million people put aboard ships between 1526 and 1866. See also: Middle Passage, diaspora, and the guide Understanding the Three Legs of the Atlantic Trade.